Written by

Pat Graham

Associated Press

Nuggets 109, Pistons 97

DENVER — Andre Iguodala scored six of his 17 points over the final three minutes to help the Denver Nuggets hold off the Detroit Pistons 109-97 and snap a three-game skid on Tuesday night.

The Nuggets broke out their new canary yellow uniforms for their home opener and played pretty snazzy, especially late in the third quarter when they began opening up a 17-point lead. The Pistons rallied late, before Iguodala closed the door with two baskets and a pair of free throws. Iguodala also finished with 10 rebounds.

Greg Monroe scored 27 points for the Pistons, who dropped their fourth straight. Detroit and Washington (0-2) are the only winless teams left in the NBA this season.

Before the tipoff, Iguodala grabbed the microphone and gave a speech to the fans waving gold towels in unison: “This is a big year for us. We need your support.”

The Nuggets aren’t home all that much in the early going, playing 18 of their next 28 away from Pepsi Center.

So far, the road hasn’t been kind to Denver. The team kicked off the regular season by dropping three straight in Philly, Orlando and Miami. But they managed to avoid their first 0-4 start since 1998.

Early in the fourth quarter, Iguodala and Corey Brewer hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Nuggets a 96-80 lead. Moments later, JaVale McGee brought the crowd to its feet with a thunderous dunk off a lob from Miller.

The Nuggets appeared to be cruising to the win with 7:41 remaining, but the Pistons cut the deficit to seven when Jonas Jerebko stole the ball from Iguodala and went in for the dunk.

Iguodala turned the ball over again on the next possession.

Then, he took over the game. McGee finished with 16 points while Ty Lawson and Kenneth Faried each added 15.

The Pistons played their third of a winding six-game road swing. They return to California on Wednesday night to play Sacramento, before going to Oklahoma City and finishing up in Houston.

Rodney Stuckey came into the game in a shooting funk, hitting just 1 of his last 23 jumpers. But he found his range against the Nuggets as he finished with 17 points.